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SQL Server Management Studio v 17.6 is released
SQL Server Management Studio v 17.6 is released and available for download from below links
New Install – https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=870039
Upgrade from previous v 17.x – https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=870041
There are lot of fixes and changes in this release, for more information, Please visit
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/ssms/sql-server-management-studio-changelog-ssms
The main highlight feature of this release is support for Azure SQL Database Managed Instance
Hope you find this information helpful !!!
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Simple Guide to restore SQL Server Backup from Azure Blog Storage using Management Studio
In previous post, we saw
1. How to implement Off-site/Cloud backup in SQL Server 2017 using Azure Blob Storage
2. How to restore SQL Server Backup from Azure Blog Storage using queries
In this post we will see how to restore SQL Server Backup from Azure Blog Storage using SQL Server Management Studio
Step 1: Open SQL Server Management Studio 2017 and connect to SQL Server on which you would like restore the database and right click on “Databases” node and click on “Restore Database…”
Step 2: Select Backup media type as “URL” and click on “Add”
Step 3: Click “Add” to add the new Azure Storage container
If you are not already signed in, sign in to Azure account and then select the Subscription, Storage account and blob container
Based on you requirement, set up the Expiration date for Shared Access policy, by default, its setup for 1 year from date of setup
Click on “Create Credential” to generate the Shared Access Signature (SAS), once SAS is generated successfully, click “Ok” to continue
Step 4: Please review the selected Azure Storage Container and Shared Access Signature and click “Ok” to continue
Please select the backup file, you wish to restore
Please review the selected backup media and click “Ok” to continue
Step 5: Based on requirement change other options in Files tab or Options tab and click “Ok” to start the restore process
Once restore is completed, we should see this restored successfully message
We should also be able to see the database restored in Object Explorer as well
Hope you find this post helpful !!!
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Simple guide to restore SQL Server Backup from Azure Blog Storage
In previous post, we saw How to implement Off-site/Cloud backup in SQL Server 2017 using Azure Blob Storage, in this post we will see how to restore SQL Server Backup from Azure Blog Storage
Step 1: Create Credential – Please use below query to create Credential to access Azure Blog Storage using Shared Access Signature, This step is optional if you already have created Credential to create backup
CREATE CREDENTIAL [https://XYZ.blob.core.windows.net/YourContainerName] WITH IDENTITY = 'SHARED ACCESS SIGNATURE', SECRET = 'sv=Replace your SAS Key Here'; GO
Step 2: Restore Database from Cloud (Azure Blog Storage) – Please run below query to restore the database using SQL Server Backup stored in Azure Blog Storage, Please change the query to meet your needs
USE [master]
RESTORE DATABASE [SQL2017_DEMO]
FROM
URL = N'https://XYZ.blob.core.windows.net/YourContainerName/BackupFile.bak'
WITH FILE = 1,
MOVE N'SQL2017_DEMO' TO N'E:\SQLDATA\SQL2017_DEMO.mdf',
MOVE N'SQL2017_DEMO_log' TO N'E:\SQLDATA\SQL2017_DEMO_log.ldf',
NOUNLOAD,
STATS = 5
GO
Output:
We can also see the database restored in Object Explorer
Hope you find this post helpful !!!
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Simple Guide to implement Off-Site/Cloud backup in SQL Server 2017 using Azure Blob Storage in 2 Steps
In this post we will see how to implement Off-Site/Cloud backup in SQL Server 2017 using Azure Blog Storage
Requirements
1. SQL Server 2017
2. Azure Account
3. Azure Blog Storage with Container provisioned and Shared Access Signature generated
4. SQL Server Management Studio (Optional, if you prefer to run using SQLCMD)
Step 1: Create Credential – Please use below query to create Credential to access Azure Blob Storage using Shared Access Signature
CREATE CREDENTIAL [https://sqlxpertise.blob.core.windows.net/sqlbackups] WITH IDENTITY = 'SHARED ACCESS SIGNATURE', SECRET = 'sv=INSERT YOUR SHARED ACCESS SIGNATURE'; GO
Step 2: Backup Database to Cloud – Run below query to backup the database to Azure Blob Storage, Please change the query to meet your needs
BACKUP DATABASE SQL2017_DEMO
TO URL = 'https://XYZ.blob.core.windows.net/sqlbackups/BackupFileName.bak'
WITH STATS = 10, SKIP, NOREWIND, NOUNLOAD
Output:
If we login to Azure Portal and Navigate to the Storage account and sqlbackups container, we can see the backup file
You can also use SQL Server Management studio 2017 to connect to Azure Storage as well to see the backup file
Having an offsite backup is always important and helpful.
Hope you find this post helpful !!!
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Monitoring Transaction Replication : Replicating On-Premise SQL Server databases to SQL Azure databases
In previous post, we saw How to setup Transactional Replication to replicate On-Premise SQL Server databases to SQL Azure databases, in this post we will how to monitor the Replication process and make changes to data in On-Premise and verify the changes in SQL Azure database
Replication Monitoring
Step 1: Right click on Replication –> Local Publications –> Launch Replication Monitor
Step 2: We can see the summary of subscriptions, current average performance and current worst performance
Step 3: Expand the Publication to see the list of subscribers, we can see the list of subscribers and each of their Performance, Latency and Last Synchronization time
Step 4: If we need to review the status of each Agent status, we can use Agents tab and see their status
The different types of Agents status available are as follows
Step 5: To view the details of a particular publisher/subscriber, Please right click on the Publication/Subscription and click on “View Details”
In details view we can see the completed (Success and Failure) and current sessions, if we click on a particular session, we can also see the steps ran on that session
Details of the publication session
Details of the Subscriber session
On-Premise Data Update verification in SQL Azure database
We will make data changes using below query in On-Premise server
Query to insert a new record and update one record in On-Premise SQL Server database
INSERT INTO dbo.Customers ( CustomerID, CustomerName, CustomerAddress, Comments, Value ) VALUES ( 80001, -- CustomerID - int 'CustomerName80001', -- CustomerName - char(100) 'CustomerAddress80001', -- CustomerAddress - char(100) 'Comments80001', -- Comments - char(185) 80001 -- Value - int ); UPDATE dbo.Customers SET Comments = 'Update Comments 80000' WHERE CustomerID = 80000;
After 2 minutes, we ran the below query in SQL Azure database
Query to verify data changes in SQL Azure database
SELECT [CustomerID], [CustomerName], [CustomerAddress], [Comments], [Value] FROM [dbo].[Customers] WHERE CustomerID >= 80000;
Output: We can see the changes made in On-Premise server is replicated to SQL Azure database
Hope you find this post helpful !!!
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Transactional Replication: Replicate On-Premise SQL Server databases to SQL Azure databases
Transactional replication to SQL Azure Database is now available as of Oct 23, 2017, This feature will help us in replicating/migrating data from On-Premise SQL Server databases to SQL Azure databases with minimal impact and downtime
In this post we will see the following
1. Setup new publisher and configure new distributor
2. Add SQL Azure Database as Subscriber
For this demo we are using
Tools/Servers Used
On-Premise SQL Server 2017 Developer Edition
SQL Azure Database
SQL Server Management Studio 2017 v 17.3
How to Setup new publisher and configure new distributor
Step 1: Please connect to the On-Premise SQL Server on which we are planning to publish the data, Right click on Replication and click on New –> Publication
Step 2: Click next to continue
Step 3: We are going to configure the publisher to act as Distributor as well, but if you prefer to use a different server, use the 2nd option
After selecting, Please click Next to continue
Step 4: By default SQL Server will create the ReplData folder under Data folder, but if you prefer to use a different folder, Please change it
Please make sure the Process account which you are planning to use and SQL Server service account has rights to Read/Write to this folder else you Replication Snapshot job will fail to generate scripts
Step 5: Please select the database from which we need to publish data, In this demo we are using database “Demo”
After selecting the database click “Next” to proceed
Step 6: Please select “Transactional Publication” and click “Next” to proceed
Step 7: Please select the required objects, you wish to replicate, we will use Customers table for this demo, after selecting the required objects, Please click “Next” to continue
Step 8: This is an optional step, if you want only filtered data to be replication, Please click on “Add…” add relevant filters
In this demo, we are going to replicate the entire table, so we will skip this and click “Next” to continue
Step 9: Please select the first option to create the initial snapshot and then use the 2nd option to setup the schedule in which the snapshot agent needs to run
Please click “Change…” to setup the schedule details
For this demo, we are setting it up to 24 hours/day for every 30 minutes
After configuring the schedule, Please click “Next” to proceed
Step 10: In this step we will be configuring the Snapshot and Log Reader Agent security settings
Click on “Security Settings…” to configure
If you want to use 2 different account for Snapshot agent and Log Reader agent, please unselect “Use the security settings from the Snapshot Agent” and use “Security Settings…” for Log Reader Agent
Please provide the Windows User account to run the Snapshot Agent
After providing the details, click “Ok” to close and then review the user name provided and click “Next” to continue
Step 11: By default “Create the publication” option will be selected, Please select “Generate a script file with steps to create the publication” if you prefer to run the script manually
If you selected the 2nd option, Please specify the path where you want the script to be created and click “Next” to continue
Step 12: Please provide the Publication Name and review the settings and click “Finish” to start the publisher/distributor configuration process
We can see the progress for each steps
After all steps are completed, we should see the Success message and click “Close” to continue
Step 13: To verify the created publication, Please refresh the Local Publications node under Replication and you should see the newly created Publication
We have successfully created the Publication now, you can verify the status of initial snapshot scripts creating by verifying the job status in SQL Server Agent – Job Activity Monitor
We can see the highlighted job as completed Successfully
How to setup SQL Azure Database as Subscriber
We will now see how to create a new SQL Azure Database subscriber
Step 1: Right click on the Replication –> Local Publications –> Publication Name and click on “New Subscriptions…”
Step 2: Click “Next” to continue
Step 3: Please review the selected Publisher and Publication and click “Next” to continue
Step 4: Please select “Run all agents at the Distributor” option and click “Next” to continue
Step 5: Click on “Add Subscriber”
Click on “Add SQL Server Subscriber”
Please provide the SQL Azure Database server name and select SQL Server Authentication and provide the user name and password and click “Connect” to continue
Step 6: Please select the Subscription Database and click “Next” to continue
Step 7: Please click “…” button to configure the Distribution Agent security
Please provide the windows user name to run the process account in Distributor Agent
For “Connect to the Subscriber”, Please provide the SQL Server Login account to connect
Please click “Ok” and then review the selected settings and click “Next” to continue
Step 8: Please specify the Agent Schedule and click “Next” to continue
Step 9: Please select “Initialize” and select “Immediately” for Initialize When, Please choose this accordingly if your snapshot agent job is completed or not
Click “Next” to continue
Step 10: By default “Create the subscription(s)” will be selected, if you prefer to create the subscription manually using script, Please select Generate Script option and click “Next” to continue
Please provide the script path and click “Next” to continue
Step 11: Please review the settings and click “Finish” to start the process
Once the process is complete, Please refresh the publication to see the Subscription
After the Replication Distribution job is run, Please connect to SQL Azure database to see the Table is created in SQL Azure database
In next post, we will see how to monitor the Replication, we will also make changes to local data and see the changes being replicated to SQL Azure
Hope you find this post helpful !!!
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How to import CSVs from Azure Blob Storage to SQL Server 2017 ?
SQL Server 2017 introduces option to import CSV files stored in Azure Blog Storage
In this article we will see how to implement that step by step
Step 1: Create Database Master Encryption Key
This step is optional, if you already have created your database master encryption key, Please skip this
CREATE MASTER KEY ENCRYPTION BY PASSWORD = 'PleaseUseStrongPasswordHere'
Step 2: Create Database Scoped Credential
CREATE DATABASE SCOPED CREDENTIAL DemoAzureCredential WITH IDENTITY = 'SHARED ACCESS SIGNATURE', SECRET = 'INSERT YOUR SHARED ACCESS SIGNATURE HERE';
Please note when you are copying the Share Access Signature from Azure Portal, it will copy with ? as prefix, and you will need to remove it
Step 3: Create External Data Source
Please make sure to replace sqlxpertise with your own Blob account name and democsvs with your container name
CREATE EXTERNAL DATA SOURCE DemoAzureBlobCSVs
WITH (
TYPE = BLOB_STORAGE,
LOCATION = 'https://sqlxpertise.blob.core.windows.net/democsvs',
CREDENTIAL = DemoAzureCredential
);
Step 4: Test External Data source connection using OPENROWSET command
SELECT * FROM OPENROWSET( BULK 'DemoProducts.txt', DATA_SOURCE = 'DemoAzureBlobCSVs', SINGLE_CLOB) AS DataFile;
Sample output – This is based on the input file I used and it will vary based on your input file uploaded to Azure Blog Storage
Step 5: Import Data to table
CREATE TABLE tmpProducts
(
[productid] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
[productname] [nvarchar](40) NOT NULL,
[supplierid] [int] NOT NULL,
[categoryid] [int] NOT NULL,
[unitprice] [money] NOT NULL,
[discontinued] [bit] NOT NULL,
)
BULK INSERT tmpProducts
FROM 'DemoProducts.txt'
WITH
(
DATA_SOURCE = 'DemoAzureBlobCSVs',
FORMAT = 'CSV'
);
Output
Once data is successfully imported, let us review the data imported
SELECT productid,
productname,
supplierid,
categoryid,
unitprice,
discontinued FROM dbo.tmpProducts
Output
Note: BULK INSERT is working only for permanent tables and not temporary tables, You will get below error message if you try importing temporary tables
CREATE TABLE #tmpProducts ( [productid] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL, [productname] [nvarchar](40) NOT NULL, [supplierid] [int] NOT NULL, [categoryid] [int] NOT NULL, [unitprice] [money] NOT NULL, [discontinued] [bit] NOT NULL, ) BULK INSERT #tmpProducts FROM 'DemoProducts.txt' WITH (DATA_SOURCE = 'DemoAzureBlobCSVs', FORMAT = 'CSV');
Error Message
Msg 12703, Level 16, State 1, Line 57
Referenced external data source “DemoAzureBlobCSVs” not found.
Yes, the message is misleading, but I am sure, Microsoft SQL Server team will realize and change this.
Hope you find this post helpful !!!
